Tshewang (Migration)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application for review concerning a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 500. The applicant, who was offshore and had never entered Australia, sought to have a decision reviewed. However, the Tribunal determined that the initial application for the visa had not been validly made.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed jurisdiction to review the applicant's case. This question hinged on whether the application for the visa had been validly made in the first instance, as an invalid application would mean there was no reviewable decision.

The Tribunal reasoned that because the visa application was not validly made, there was no decision that could be subject to review by the Tribunal. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. The Tribunal also noted that as there was no valid application before it, the applicant's requests to withdraw the application were therefore moot.